ABC's General Hospital is cashing in on the popularity of the hip-swiveling star and will be airing footage from Martin's pre-pop idol, pre-good haircut stint as the singer/bartender Miguel Morez.
"The show always stives to incorporate its rich history into current story lines," a spokesperson from ABC explains.
Martin's character left the show in October 1995 with hopes of chasing a dream music career. His real life music career exploded in February, after an unforgettable performance at the Grammys. The 27-year-old singer has rocketed to the top of the pop charts with his first English-language album, the self-titled Ricky Martin.
In today's episode, Miguel's rapidly aged teenage son Juan (Michael Saucedo) struggles to learn more about his father by watching footage of an October 18, 1995 concert.
"As a fan of Ricky Martin myself, I like this little piece of history playing on our show," says Saucedo.
Fans of GH and Martin are mildly disappointed the star won't really be making an appearance on the show and they have to deal with a measly rerun. "I can't believe they're going to shortchange us by just having flashbacks of his original performance," complains one bitter fan on a soap newsgroup (rec.arts.tv.soaps.abc).
Martin's camp says the busy singer has no plans to actually return to the show, so fans will have to keep pining for a Port Charles visit from Miguel.
The Puerto Rico-born Martin began his singing career as a member of the teen group Menudo. After mandatory retirement at age 16, he went solo as a Spanish-language act, which was followed his stint on GH.
Martin recently made headlines as the big winner at MTV's Video Music Awards, taking home five trophies--Best Dance Video, Best Pop Video and three international Viewer's Choice Awards for his breakout hit, "Livin' La Vida Loca."